Residents borrow books from a book shelf in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

A total of 3,826 reading activities were launched by physical bookstores in Ningbo in 2019, ranking first in Zhejiang province, according to reports released on Sept 14. 

The reports were compiled by the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Publicity in partnership with the Chinese Academy of Press and Publication and the School of Public Administration at Zhejiang University.

Ningbo also ranked high in areas such as number of public libraries, book collections and reading rate among adult residents.

The city is home to 631 public libraries or library branches, ranking second in Zhejiang only behind Hangzhou (794), which house a total of 12.4329 million of books, placing it third in the province, said the reports.

Approximately 88.7 percent of adults in Zhejiang engaged with reading materials such as books, newspapers, and digital publications in 2019.

Hangzhou, Ningbo and Wenzhou took the top three slots in term of the reading rate.

Digital publications are more popular among Zhejiang residents than are books, newspapers and magazines. Adult residents in the province read an average of 5.32 paper books in 2019, according to the reports.

A regulation to promote reading in the city took effect on April 1, making Ningbo the first city in Zhejiang province to promote reading through legislation.

The legislation will further clarify the responsibilities of various departments and help tackle reading-related problems in the city, such as the unequal distribution of reading facilities and an insufficient supply of reading services, experts noted.

"Tianyi Yueshu", an online book-lending service launched by the Ningbo Library, won the 2020 IFLA PressReader International Marketing Award.